Michael Cuddyer catches a breather tonight with Tyler Colvin getting a start in RF. Not sure if this is at all connected to Cuddyer to banging his foot against the right field wall yesterday or just a routine day off/chance to get Colvin in the lineup.

Ramon Hernandez moves up one spot to fill Cuddyer's hitting shoes while Jonathan Herrara and Dexter Fowler are once again hitting 2nd and 8th respectively.

Los Angeles Dodgers (16-6)

Dee Gordon (SS)

Mark Ellis (2B)

Matt Kemp (CF)

Andre Ethier (RF)

James Loney (1B)

Juan Uribe (3B)

Tony Gwynn Jr. (LF)

A.J. Ellis (C)

Aaron Harang (P)

Los Angeles is the hottest team in the National League having just swept the next hottest team (Washington) over the weekend. Needless to say these next three games are going to be challenging and will require the Rockies to play near perfect baseball. Or as I sometimes like to say, "nine innings or no chance".

I would also advise Juan Nicasio to keep Dee Gordon off the bases ahead of Kemp and Ethier, and to be the first Rockies pitcher to make A.J. Ellis look like A.J. Ellis at the plate instead of Buster Posey.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

What Went Wrong: First and foremost, the Rockies can't figure out Johan Santana.

How bad has it been?

Well, in 22 career innings against them — spanning three starts — his ERA remains a perfect 0.00 (with no unearned runs scored either). And I have to be honest, I don't know that they've had more than five or six runners reach second base in those outings. He simply overwhelms and overpowers them, and the only saving grace today was that Terry Collins pulled him after six to help ease his workload. Otherwise, you'd probably be tacking another inning or two on that total.

Also bad? How about 1-for-11 with RISP (mostly late). That one of course being Todd Helton's pinch-hit grand slam in the eighth inning. That, and the first four hitters in New York's lineup killed them again (10-for-21, 3 RBI, 4 Runs, 3 walks). They simply could not find an answer for any of those guys all weekend.

Turning Point: The Rockies had come off the deck to tie the game twice when Michael Cuddyer and Ramon Hernandez stepped up with a chance to put New York away in the tenth (winning run was on second). Unfortunately, neither could deliver Troy Tulowitzki home — Cuddyer struck out, Hernandez popped out — and the game continued on. The Mets would then scratch another run across against Matt Belisle in eleventh and the Rockies would go down 1-2-3 to end it.

One week after feebly explaining his Sunday lineups, it appears Jim Tracy may have learned more from the fans than we learned from him. And I don't think anyone will appreciate that more than Jamie Moyer.

New York Mets (12-9)

Kirk Nieuwenhuis (CF)

Ruben Tejada (SS)

Daniel Murphy (2B)

David Wright (3B)

Lucas Duda (1B)

Scott Hairston (LF)

Ike Davis (1B)

Josh Thole (C)

Johan Santana (P)

That's the same lineup that drove Guillermo Moscoso crazy last night. Here's hoping Moyer has an easier time finishing them off.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

What Went Wrong: Pretty simple. Guillmero Moscoro and Edgmer Escalona failed to finish off their innings strongly. On three separate occasions (twice against Moscoso, one against Escalona), the Mets were able to make something out of nothing with a two-out rallies/cheap runs.

In the third vs. Moscoso: New York used back-to-back singles from Ruben Tejada and Daniel Murphy and a David Wright double to create a two out run that gave them a 3-1 lead.

In the fifth vs. Moscoso: After the first two Mets were retired quietly, that same trio along with Lucas Duda singled consecutively to create three runs this time. Three runs that immediately answered Colorado's three run fourth, and gave New York a 6-4 lead.

In the ninth vs. Escalona: Mike Baxter started the inning with a double and was standing on third after two outs had been recorded. That's when Escalona uncorked a wild pitch (some confusion with the scoring on this... I'm going wild pitch) giving New York what proved to be a cheap yet valuable insurance run (7-4).

Now, a portion of that credit goes to the middle of New York's order for their refusal to give away at-bats or go out quietly, but just as much discredit goes to the Moscoso and Escalona for simply not the big pitch to shut down an inning when they had the opportunity to do so. And for two guys looking to make a positive impression and stick around for awhile, this wasn't a strong statement game.

Turning Point(s): Hat tip to Ruben Tejada, who was the pivotal hitter in two of those innings and now has seven hits through two games in this series. Needless to say he has been a professional pain in the Rockies this weekend, so if he could just please go back to being Ruben Tejada tomorrow instead of Jose Reyes, it would be greatly appreciated.

When an offense erupts for 18 runs on 19 hits the night before, might as well stick with that same template. That's exactly what Jim Tracy has done here, with Wilin Rosario sliding in at catcher for Ramon Hernandez being the only change.

I think it's also safe to say that Chris Nelson has become the odd man out in the infield, and is now a possible DFA candidate the next time Colorado looks to tweak their roster.

New York Mets (11-9)

Kirk Nieuwenhuis (CF)

Ruben Tejada (SS)

Daniel Murphy (2B)

David Wright (3B)

Lucas Duda (RF)

Scott Hairston (LF)

Ike Davis (1B)

Josh Thole (C)

Dillon Gee (P)

If Guillermo Moscoso can hold Scott Hairston in check, then...

Alright, let's not kid ourselves, he's not holding Hairston in check... so he might want to do a better job than Drew Pomeranz, Esmil Rogers and Josh Roenicke did of holding the other Mets in check. Otherwise, another 11-run inning will be required.

Winning Player(s): So many of them tonight. If forced to pick just one, I think I might actually go with Marco Scutaro for the spark (4 hits and 4 runs) he provided at the top of the lineup. Then again, how do you overlook the big night (and inning) Carlos Gonzalez had? Watch his home run And then there's Todd Helton (3 hits), Jonathan Herrera (3 runs) and Ramon Hernandez (only 1 hit but 5 RBI).

You know, Matt Reynolds and Matt Belisle were pretty damn important as well, each recording at least three outs in relief without allowing a run. (If that doesn't sound like a big deal to you, please start this Recap over.) So honorable mentions to them with a giant hat tip to Belisle for striking out Scott Hairston with a pair of runners on base in the seventh. Big moment.

Turning Point: Of course, if I wanted to narrow it down to one moment, Eric Young Jr. would be the winning player, because once again his speed, hustle, desire, want to, whatever else you want to call it, changed the game positively for the Rockies.

After the Mets had scored four in the top of the fifth to take a seemingly commanding 6-2 lead, Young was summoned to pinch-hit for Esmil Rogers leading off the bottom half. On the third pitch, Young bounced one feebly back to Mets' fill-in starter Chris Schwinden. Now, for most professional baseball players, what follows are 5-6 token jog steps towards first base before taking a left or right turn back to the dugout. For EricYoung Jr., though, it means busting your ass down the line like you just laced one in the gap.

Oh man. This lineup is going to drive many Rockies bloggers mad, and with some justification I might add.

Fowler, for all of the holes in his swing and the frustrations that go along with them, is a more productive hitter than Herrera. There's a better chance for extra base hits with Fowler, to go along with a few other dynamics he brings at the top of the order that are wasted hitting eighth.

That said, with Herrera, there's a much better chance for good at-bats and productive outs ahead of the Rockies run producers. Jim Tracy is obviously looking for more of those at this point in time, so the change is made and we wait to see how if plays out.

Personally, I would have given Fowler this homestand to get it all together before making a change such as this, but we know Tracy's patience (especially with Fowler) tends to wear thin.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

What Went Wrong: Plain and simply, the offense stunk today. They were lucky to scratch out the win in Game 1 behind the wheels of Eric Young Jr. and the arms of Juan Nicasio and Esmil Rogers, and they followed that up with another feeble effort in Game 2 against Charlie Morton. That's not to mention getting nothing last night other the CarGo home runs.

I know this Pittsburgh staff has pitched lights out so far, but man, the Rockies offense has to find a ways to put pressure on the opposition. The Pirates offense is lousy to be sure, but at no point in this series were they ever in danger of being put out of the game. That made life easier on manager Clint Hurdle in terms of handling his pitchers, and it allowed their bats to peck, peck, peck, in search of one or two big hits, not three or four.

That's a BIG difference for them.

That's a BAD series loss for the Rockies.

Turning Point: This is easy. What should have been two harmless flyball outs to end fifth inning in a scoreless tie, ended up breaking the game open for Pittsburgh as Carlos Gonzalez lost both of them in the sun. The unlucky — He was wearing sunglasses! Not good ones, but still — misplays would lead directly to Pittsburgh's first two runs. Garrett Jones and Pedro Alvarez then followed with back-to-back home runs, sealing the W for Morton.

Winning Player: It probably feels like Juan Nicasio deserves the nod here, but how about the bounce back effort from Esmil Rogers?

Called upon in the eighth inning with a one-run lead, Rogers not only accepted the challenge from Jim Tracy, but owned it by striking out the Pirates 2-3-4 hitters. A dominant, emphatic and damned impressive shutdown inning when the Rockies desperately needed one. Also, our short relievers take a pounding when things go poorly, so why not pat them on the ass when they come up big?

Well done, Esmil.

And well done by Matt Reynolds (got his one batter) and Rafael Betancourt (1-2-3 ninth for his sixth save).

Turning Point: Eric Young's wheels have been changing games all month, and that's what happened again with the game tied at 1 in the eighth.

With one man already out, the speedster reached base on a hit by pitch. Marco Scutaro directly followed that with a single through the hole on the LEFT side created by Clint Barmes cheating towards second (looking for an EY steal attempt), which allowed Jr. to move first to third without hesitation. That set up Tyler Colvin, who hit nothing more than a medium pop fly to right field. But that's all EY needed to score from third and give the Rockies the lead.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

This one stings... probably more than an April game in Pittsburgh should sting, but the Rockies had this one in their grasp for 90% of the evening and just couldn't finish it off. And coming in front of tomorrow's doubleheader, the sting only intensifies. As I said earlier today, it's difficult to sweep those things, so a series win just became increasingly less likely.

Not impossible, mind you, but less likely.

What Went Wrong: Whenever there's a devastating late inning loss, you know the bullpen played a part in it somehow. It's unavoidable, and tonight's unfortunate goats were the recently struggling Rex Brothers (0 outs recorded, 2 runs, 1 smoked double, 1 blooped double and 1 walk in the 7th) and the usually reliable Matt Belisle (2/3 IP, 1 Clint Barmes home run, 1 painful error of his own leading to 1 unearned game-winning run in the 8th).

Each man was working with a one-run lead thanks to a Carlos Gonzalez two-run homer, so their margin for error was little. And as you can tell, neither had anything resembling their best stuff tonight, so both leads quickly vanished.

Thankfully, not a lot gets to Matt Belisle, so you can count on him to bounce back in his next outing. As for Brothers, it's been a struggle for the past 3-4 outings, so his immediate outlook is a little shakier.

Maybe a lesser role is in order until he can locate his filthy stuff again and gain back some confidence he's surely lost in his two most recent outings. The Rockies are absolutely going to need him, so he's not going anywhere. It doesn't matter how down on him fans are right now, he's the most talented arm they have in the bullpen and the most important. They need to get him on track.

The Opening Day lineup is back in play with everybody's bumps, bruises, sore throats, yips and damaged toenails — Warning: Nasty Photo Here — close to being 100%.

Pittsburgh Pirates (6-9)

Alex Pressley (LF)

Jose Tabata (RF)

Andrew McCuthen (CF)

Casey McGehee (1B)

Neil Walker (2B)

Yamaico Navarro (3B)

Rod Barajas (C)

Clint Barmes (SS)

Kevin Correia (P)

Meanwhile, this is Pittsburgh's lineup. And it's not good.

The Rockies need to jump on these guys with some early offense, get a solid outing from Moyer, and take this first game ahead of tomorrow's doubleheader. Because as we know, unless you're playing at Citi Field against the Mets, it's tough to sweep those things.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Winning Player: Jeremy Guthrie needed a good outing this afternoon after struggling through his first two starts at Coors Field.

Needless to say, he came through.

Guthrie's Line: 7 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 2 K, 101 pitches (55 strikes)

The ball-strike ratio wasn't sparkling by any means, nor was his groundball-flyball (7-5), but Guthrie somehow managed to avoid a significant threat all afternoon and notched his second victory of the season.

I'd provide more analysis but I'm not exactly sure how to explain his success today. And sometimes it's better to not over analyze and just accept results. So there they are. Good enough.

Turning Point: Jim Tracy avoided using Matt Belisle in last night's loss. I didn't quite understand the thought process in that situation, but at least it paid off this afternoon as a fresh Belisle was able to clean up the mess — 1st and 2nd, no outs — left by Rex Brothers in the eighth.

And we're not talking about cleaning up at the bottom of Milwaukee's order here. Belisle had Ryan Braun, Aramis Ramirez and Corey Hart staring him down, and he retired all three to keep it a 3-1 game. Just a beautiful piece of pitching to shut down a potential game changing inning.

This Sunday lineup is fine. Dexter Fowler still hasn't found himself at the plate despite his early home runs, so why not run Tyler Colvin out there? Chris Nelson is hitless on the road in 14 ABs and was an easy to predict sit today. And Todd Helton is Todd Helton. I think Tracy has handled him very well early on.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

What Went Wrong: The Rockies bullpen has been a strength in the early going.

Tonight, not so much.

It started in the sixth inning as Jim Tracy called on Esmil Rogers to protect a one run lead. Rogers, who had put together four scoreless relief appearances — retiring at least four batters in each — to begin the season, was greeted by a game-tying Ryan Braun home run.

That you could live with. However, Tracy elected to stick with Rogers (18 pitches in the sixth) into the seventh, and the wheels promptly fell off as three of the first four Brewers reached, including a Rickie Weeks RBI triple.

So Rogers gets the hook with Colorado now trailing 5-3. In comes Edgmer Escalona, who proceeds to throw gas on the fire beginning with a Ryan Braun RBI triple and ending with an Alex Gonzalez three-run homer.

9-3 Brewers. Game over.

Other problems: Managing only two hits and striking out nine times against injury fill-in Marco Estrada wasn't exactly inspiring. Marco Scutaro was one of those victims, striking out for the first time in 2012. Maybe he'll only strikeout against pitchers named Marco.

Oh, and remember how I was praising Wilin Rosario for his work behind the plate in his early starts? BIG step back tonight with some lousy (perhaps lazy) footwork leading to a pair of passed balls and a wild pitch. He needs to bring it every night.

Turning Point: Back to Jim Tracy's odd use of the bullpen in the seventh.

This right-handed powered Brewers lineup is going to provide quite a challenge for Pomeranz tonight. It wouldn't be surprising at all if they touch him up a bit, but I'm just looking for him to be sharper than he was on Sunday against Arizona.

Quicker innings would be great, but most of all keep what is likely to be an aggressive baserunning team in check and do a better job of not allowing the opposition to create opportunities for themselves. Make them earn every bit of their offense.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Winning Player(s): Whenever the Rockies steal a game from a quality team on the road, there are going to be several candidates. For tonight, though, I've narrowed it down to just two.

1. Jhoulys Chacin: We'll get into his performance a little later.

2. Michael Cuddyer: Even on a night when he's not in the starting lineup (nursing that bruised toe) Cuddyer finds a way to make a difference for the Rockies. As a pinch-hitter in the ninth, Cuddyer came to the plate needing to hit a flyball to score Eric Young Jr. as the go ahead run from third. Cuddyer played it a little safer, instead ripping a solid single right back through the middle.

Turning Point: Jason Giambi's pinch-hit single leading off the ninth, which essentially turned into a double with pinch-runner Eric Young Jr. taking over. That, and Marco Scutaro doing his usual professional job of moving the runner to third with another productive plate appearance (still hasn't struck out) to set up Cuddyer's heroics.

Honorable Mention: I can't help but look back to Jhoulys Chacin's two-out, bases loaded single in the fourth that pushed Colorado's lead 2-0, and probably should have made it 3-0 if not for the missed call at the plate. Yes, the Brewers would later tie the game up, and the Rockies impressively responded to that, but this hit from the nine spot could easily be seen as the real difference maker.

Ramon Hernandez returns from his minor hand ailment, Michael Cuddyer replaces him on the sideline with his bruised big toe suffered on his own foul ball on Wednesday. I don't think that would keep him out more than a day or two, but I do know big toe pain sucks. So we'll see.

Milwaukee Brewers (6-7)

Rickie Weeks (2B)

Norichika Aoki (CF)

Ryan Braun (LF)

Aramis Ramirez (3B)

Corey Hart (RF)

Mat Gamel (1B)

Alex Gonzalez (SS)

Jonathan Lucroy (C)

Shawn Marcum (P)

Ryan Braun was 0-for-11 in Milwaukee's just completed series vs Los Angeles. I'm going to look at that as bad news for Rockies pitching this weekend. Really bad.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Winning Player(s): As the title may or may not indicate, I'm going with the bottom third of tonight's starting lineup. That includes Chris Nelson, Jonathan Herrera and Juan Nicasio. All three played a huge part in tonight's win, and you're about to read how.

Turning Point: Sometimes the turning point can be obscure, other times it's blatantly obvious. Tonight's was the latter, because it came via Chris Nelson's two-run double in the second that gave Colorado a 2-1 lead.

The most important thing is that it did just that, gave Colorado the lead. But with runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out, I felt like it was ultra important for the Rockies to not settle for one, or even worse, none in that spot. Nelson's hit not only guaranteed they would put up the crooked number, but it opened the flood gates to a five-run inning that San Diego never recovered from.

Nelson would finish up his night with a pair of doubles, a walk, two runs scored and two more driven in. That's how you take an opportunity and run with it.

Terrific outing for Nicasio on the heels of that unexpectedly disastrous effort against San Francisco. If you recall, Nicasio walked FIVE in that game (career high), but came back firing strikes with all of his pitches tonight and worked effectively outside of the zone when he had to. The only Padre that got to him was Chase Headley (two home runs), but he's been getting to every Rockies pitcher since he came into the league so we're used to seeing that.

People have been calling for that dating back as far as Saturday, but last night's two errors and the non-effort to run out a groundball — controversial or not, just run — sealed the deal. Now he has two full days to clear his mind, rest his hip, or whatever it is he needs to do to get back on track.

To replace Tulo, Marco Scutaro, a shortstop by trade, slides over to his more comfortable position while Jonathan Herrera — coming off three hits on Sunday — will try to continue being a professional pain in the opponent's ass.

It's also worth noting that Wilin Rosario receives another start behind the plate. We understand Ramon Hernandez tweaked a hand during his final at-bat on Monday, which is a contributor in this decision, but Rosario more than earn the opportunity with his performance last night. I'm looking forward to seeing how he builds on that.

I must say, we've been a part of some really cool moments over the years as Colorado Rockies fans, and Jamie Moyer's victory tonight — making him the oldest pitcher in baseball history to enter the win column — rates right up there among the coolest.

I say that, first and foremost, because the perseverance and mental toughness it takes to endure elbow reconstruction at the age 48 to continue living your dream, and to continue competing at the highest level of professional baseball is off the charts. It's extraordinary. You can't not respect or appreciate that.

But what makes it even cooler is that the now 49-year-old Moyer wasn't just out there competing tonight, he was out there taking ownership of this baseball game.

I've said before that Moyer isn't a pitcher that can win you a game with just his arm. Well, tonight, I sit corrected, because that's exactly what he did. He was the guy setting the tone early. He was the guy picking up his teammates. He was the best Rockie on that baseball field, and there was no question about that the entire time he was working.

It was special to watch. And I hope his staff mates were paying close attention, because he set quite an example for them. Even on nights when you don't have "it" (great stuff/bad day/whatever) you can still challenge major league hitters and get them out if you believe you can do it.

Believe you me, Jamie Moyer still believes whole-heartedly that he can do it.

2. Wilin Rosario gets his second straight start with Jamie Moyer after those two showed good chemistry towards the end of spring training.

3. Needing a fresh arm in the bullpen, Colorado recalled Edgmer Escalona today and optioned out Tyler Chatwood. So now when Jamie Moyer gives you the expected 5-6 innings tonight, you're comfortable with it.

Monday, April 16, 2012

What Went Wrong: Just like the previous three games against Arizona, the Rockies found themselves trailing before they had a chance to take their first hacks.

When that starts happening on a consistent basis, it obviously puts more pressure on the offense, but beyond that it can be more than a little deflating and disheartening. Not that that's a good excuse for failing to mount much offense against Cory Luebke, but it just kind of is what it is. And what it does is wear you out mentally.

As you may have been able to tell by my lack of tweets after the first couple innings, it wears me out, too.

Turning Point: The game never turned, nor was there ever a real threat for it turn, so I'm going to nominate Troy Tulowitzki's error on Cory Luebke's grounder — which directly resulted in San Diego's fifth run — as the moment we all realized the game was never going to turn.

By the way, Tulowitzki looks very uncomfortable at both the plate — which isn't unusual early in the season — and in the field — which concerns me far more. It's possible the hip flexor he's been dealing is a bigger issue than is being led on, which means he either needs to take a day or two soon to rest it, or we might have to get prepared for 75-80% of Tulo for awhile.

Jeremy Guthrie's Line: 7 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 1 K

It wasn't as messy as Pomeranz yesterday and it wasn't as painful as Nicasio on Friday, but it still wasn't nearly good enough. Especially when it's the worst offense in baseball squaring you up and ripping nothing but rocket doubles to all fields.

Seriously, Guthrie wasn't fooling anybody and he wasn't getting swings and misses. But I guess if you're looking for the silver linings that at least allowed him to gobble up seven innings to help conserve the bullpen.

The usual lineup minus Carlos Gonzalez, who is still recovering from strep throat. We're hopeful to see him back in there tomorrow.

San Diego Padres (2-8)

Cameron Maybin (CF)

Will Venable (LF)

Chase Headley (3B)

Jeremy Hermida (RF)

Nick Hundley (C)

Yonder Alonso (1B)

Andy Parrino (2B)

Jason Bartlett (SS)

Cory Luebke (P)

The Rockies secured their first series win in 2012 over the weekend against their toughest competition to date, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Needless to say, it would be extremely disappointing if they turned right around and dropped this series to a scuffling San Diego squad. Need at least two, and I don't think it would be too greedy to ask for all three.

Links

— Chris Jaffe analyzes the rise and fall, and then re-rise and re-fall of our fearless leader, Jim Tracy. Hardball Times

Sunday, April 15, 2012

What Went Wrong: Another everything sucked kind of Sunday at Coors Field.

Of course, Jim Tracy's Sunday lineup card is getting most of the blame for that. And as always, there's justification in that thought process. However, for me at least it was easier to tolerate because we know Carlos Gonzalez is unavailable due to strep throat, and Ramon Hernandez, Todd Helton and Marco Scutaro were all no brainers to sit after a really long night at the ballpark full of stops and starts.

(Especially Helton, who as Drew Goodman and Jeff Huson pointed out had to go through his stretching routine twice.)

That said, I'm sure Tracy would have used a similar lineup regardless of last night's situation because he's Jim Tracy and that's how he rolls, but I also have a feeling the regulars would have struggled just as much against a locked in Trevor Cahill as the B squaders did — PS: Johnny Herrera did have three of the four hits Cahill allowed — so I'm not going to waste more time or energy beating the obvious drum this week.

I'll just tip my cap to Cahill for his effort, acknowledge Drew Pomeranz wasn't nearly good enough, and get ready to turn the page to San Diego.

Turning Point: Speaking of turning the page, the calendar flipped to Sunday. What more do you need to know?

Pomeranz was a mess today. It was obvious almost immediately that his offspeed pitches were going to be non factors, so Arizona turned him into a one-pitch pitcher. And to be honest, his fastball wasn't all that impressive either, so that obviously added up to an ineffective outing.

He also needs to improve holding baserunners — and by improve I mean at least make an honest (without balking) effort — because the Diamondbacks weren't shy about exposing that flaw and you know everyone else is taking note of that.

I'm not around Twitter right now but I can imagine there's a lot of talk about Jim Tracy putting his Sunday lineup behind Drew Pomeranz. I'm sure Jim would have done it anyway, but at least it makes some sense after last night's starting, stopping, and the late night at the yard. No formal complaints from me.

Note: Jordan Pacheco was the player optioned down to Triple A to make room for Drew Pomeranz. His struggles at third base (especially last night) are what synched this move, and unfortunately he may have a difficult time getting back up with Eric Young playing so well, Charlie Blackmon getting healthy and Nolan Arenado's arrival possibly coming in the next 6-8 weeks.

Arizona Diamondbacks (5-3)

Ryan Roberts (3B)

Gerardo Parra (LF)

Justin Upton (RF)

Chris Young (CF)

Paul Goldschmidt (1B)

Aaron Hill (2B)

John McDonald (SS)

Henry Blanco (C)

Trevor Cahill (P)

Any time there's no Miguel Montero in Arizona's lineup, it's a good day for Rockies pitching. Let's finish this sweep!

On another crazy, bizarre, cold (and this time rain soaked) night at Coors Field that saw the Rockies struggle (understatement) to battle the elements defensively and ultimately blow a 5-1 lead, Todd Helton came to the rescue again with a breathtakingly dramatic, bordering on Rocktoberish two-out, two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Rockies an exhilarating win over the Diamondbacks.

How exhilarating? My heart is still thumping about an hour later and I don't think I'm having a heart attack.

Todd Helton, ladies and gentlemen. I have a feeling he's won himself a Hall of Fame vote or two over these past 24 hours. If not, the voters can...

Winning Player: Todd Helton.

There are other good choices, like Tyler Colvin, Michael Cuddyer and Eric Young Jr. for example, but there's only one correct choice: Todd Helton.

Turning Point: Several in this back-and-forth beautiful mess of a baseball game. I felt like Jhoulys Chacin picking off Gerardo Parra in the first inning to end that potentially big rally was a huge play that held it's importance right until the end.

Matt Belisle limiting the damage around Troy Tulowitzki's two throwing errors in the sixth was also important.

But the turning point that directly positioned the Rockies for this win was Eric Young's two-out RBI double in the eighth that pulled the Rockies within one. That hit and that run cut off Arizona's string of six unanswered runs, and made everything in the ninth inning possible.

Wouldn't it be nice if the Rockies could build off yesterday's win, lock this series up early, start their first winning streak of the year, get back to .500 and allow Rockies fans to be to be happy campers for longer than 24 hours?

Yes, yes it would.

But they'll have to do it without Carlos Gonzalez, who sits with what we can now confirm as strep throat. He's unlikely to be available as a pinch-hitter this evening, and his availability going forward will be determined on a day-to-day basis. Chris Nelson also sits tonight for just the second time this season. Tyler Colvin and Jordan Pacheco are the additions.

— The Rockies reinstated Charlie Blackmon from the DL and then immediately optioned him to Colorado Springs where he'll work to get back in shape and then wait for a roster spot to open up. If the first seven games are any indication, however, he may be waiting awhile.

Arizona Diamondbacks (5-2)

Ryan Roberts (3B)

Gerardo Parra (LF)

Justin Upton (RF)

Miguel Montero (C)

Chris Young (CF)

Lyle Overbay (1B)

Aaron Hill (2B)

John McDonald (SS)

Josh Collmenter (P)

This is Arizona's eighth different lineup in eight games, so apparently Kirk Gibson doesn't mind tinkering. And for that matter his players don't mind it either.

I have to say, as encouraging and fun as Wednesday night's hit parade against Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants bullpen was, this performance and result tonight actually made a bigger impact with me.

It's one thing to have a night where everything just clicks offensively and the stats quickly become inflated. It's quite another to scratch, claw and battle all the way back from a 6-2 deficit against a quality opponent — team and pitcher — and then never give it back once you've taken it.

I loved this win. The team owed it to Juan Nicasio after last Sunday. Everybody contributed to the comeback one way or another. No at-bats were given away... especially with two outs. The bullpen was simply lights out.

Bottom line: Resilient effort. Quality win.

Winning Player(s): The Bullpen

Esmil Rogers has been outstanding (damn near perfect) so far in his relief role and that definitely includes tonight's CLUTCH two and a third scoreless. Rogers took over for a scuffling Juan Nicasio in the third, cutting off what had already been a four-run inning. He then ran into trouble of his own — 2nd and 3rd, no outs — in the fourth, but showed poise and maturity well beyond what we've seen from him in the past by getting through it unharmed with a groundout and two strikeouts.

Rogers then gave way to Matt Belisle, who pitched a clean sixth and then dealt with a two-base Michael Cuddyer error starting the seventh. Yes, all three Rockies outfielders have dropped a flyball within the first seven games, although this one was by far the furthest away from being routine. Anyway, Belisle was unfazed by the situation and left Miguel Montero standing right there.

Rex Brothers would then pitch a rocky but scoreless eighth, ultimately earning the victory. Which leads to...

Betanclock: 8 minutes, 58 seconds was all Raffy needed to convert this tight, one-run save. He's now 2-for-2 on the season.

Fifth time we've seen this lineup is seven games, so the pre-written complaints about Jim Tracy tinkering with the lineup remain on hold. Though I obviously wouldn't have minded some tinkering at the expense of Dexter Fowler after yesterday's defensive display, but I certainly didn't expect Tracy to hold him accountable, either, so it's business as usual here.

Arizona Diamondbacks (5-1)

Willie Bloomquist (SS)

Jason Kubel (LF)

Justin Upton (RF)

Miguel Montero (C)

Chris Young (CF)

Paul Goldschmidt (1B)

Geoff Blum (3B)

Ryan Roberts (2B)

Daniel Hudson (P)

This Arizona squad was relentless in 2011 and is starting off the same way here in 2012. What that means for the Rockies is that they will need to put NINE solid innings together if they hope to start this weekend off on the right note. I'd hate to go as far as to say nine innings or no chance, but if less than nine wasn't good enough to beat Houston or San Francisco, I doubt it'll be enough to beat Arizona.

Links

— Andrew Fisher put together an extensive and well organized preview of the Rockies minor league system over at Purple Row this week. If you have a few moments to check that out by all means get on it. Purple Row

— Delmon Young had a difficult time dealing with the swirling winds at U.S. Cellular Field this afternoon. A really difficult time. MockSession

Thursday, April 12, 2012

What Went Wrong: Death, taxes, and no-hit bids against the Rockies offense one day after they seemingly break out of a funk. Regardless of the lineup over the past three years, we can always counts on that.

Today, Madison Bumgarner carried his bid into the sixth. That's where Tyler Colvin, who had just entered the game as part of a double switch, led off with a lefty on lefty single — played into a triple by Melky Cabrera — and eventually scored the Rockies first run. Colvin also had a 13-pitch at-bat (flyout) in the eighth and a 5-pitch, bases loaded walk in the ninth, making him the Rockies best offensive player essentially on an off day. That's a problem in and of itself.

The Rockies also had another critical defensive lapse in this game. Allow me to expand on that one.

Turning Point: Dexter Fowler's error.

That's right, Drifting Dexter dropped a routine flyball — leading to two unearned runs (check out the final score) — just days after Casual CarGo dropped one in the home opener — leading to three unearned runs.